Saturday night scrimmage

The Sonics held their annual public scrimmage Saturday and an estimated 2,400 people packed Royal Brougham Pavilion at Seattle Pacific University to watch the team participate in drills and then play two separate scrimmages that allowed the fans to assess the team’s potential.

There was little buzz about relocation or arena and Kevin Durant was the fan favorite. When the phenom missed a jumper during a drill, the crowd reached in disappointment. When he drained consecutive 3-pointers to begin the second scrimmage, they cheered vigorously. Durant finished with 15 points over the two scrimmages, hitting two 3-pointers, five free throws, a jumper and a vicious dunk. But the scrimmage displayed much more than Durant.

Jeff Green and Luke Ridnour connected on two alley-oops and seem to be developing a solid chemisty running the floor. And speaking of running the floor, the Sonics did nothing but run the entire time, much to the liking of assistant coach Paul Westhead. Sonics coach P.J. Carlesimo said the team is going to try to keep up this frantic pace along with some strong defense to steal wins and exhaust opponents.

Along with Green, Delonte West, who said he is now 100 percent after spraining his ankle and having his left toenail removed this week, made some solid defensive plays, ran the floor with ease and converted some acrobatic layups. I think the Sonics fans are going to take to him quickly because of his work ethic.

Probably the most encouraging part of the night was watching Robert Swift run the floor better than he had all of training camp and block a shot of Damien Wilkins during the first scrimmage. It was a coronation for Swift, who has been sidelined for the past year after tearing his right anterior cruciate ligament. He also made a nice turnaround jumper.

He said afterwards that his knee is not swelling or really causing much pain, but team doctors have been cautious about him overexerting himself.

“It feels good to have something good happen to me,” he said. “It’s been no pain or swelling, just post-surgery stuff. It felt good to be able to do things in a game situation and get the timing back. It’s what I have been working for.”

Ridnour was solid during the scrimmage and appears to be ahead of Earl Watson for the starting point guard slot. Ridnour scored 11 of the White Team’s 24 points in the first scrimmage and appears to have his confidence back, although that can be fleeting.

A couple of cool moments: The players were all wowing fans with thunderous dunks during pre-game drills that would have a player coming off a screen and then tossing an alley-oop to a teammate. When Ridnour caught his alley-oop he shot layups, much to the chagrin of the fans who wanted him to attempt a dunk.

Also afterwards, a perspiring Nick Collison greeted his family, including infant daughter Emma. He held her and she began smiling, but when he wanted to give her back to her mother, hands sweating, she began crying. So he held her longer.